- The Game On! Diet by Krista Vernoff and Az Ferguson
- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; 1 edition (June 30, 2009)
- ISBN-13: 978-0061718892
Back of the book blurb: The Game On! Diet is not a diet. It’s a bold new approach to fitness that turns the latest, smartest, most successful health science into a fun, fierce, and exhilarating game. Developed by Az Ferguson, to help Grey’s Anatomy writer Krista Vernoff shed forty pounds of post-pregnancy weight, it is the ideal program for busy people who should be working out but have a thousand good excuses not to.
Az keeps you motivated and Krista keeps you laughing as they show you how to organize opposing teams, set goals, and compete to earn points for daily exercise, healthy meal plans, and positive lifestyle changes. With The Game On! Diet, the process of losing weight, for the first time ever, is actually fun.
She is Too Fond of Books’ review: This book had me hooked in the introduction, Az Ferguson (co-author with Krista Vernoff, and a Body-for-Life champion) sums up the philosophy of the plan with this metaphor:
Optimum health is actually our natural state of being; our bodies naturally gravitate to what they need. Think of a baby in her first year of life. She eats on a regular basis, lots of small meals. She gets most of her meals from fluids, which keep her fully hydrated. She sleeps for large portions of the day to aid her growth and recovery. And when she wakes up, she’s raring to go!
I want to be “raring to go”, so I continued reading to find out exactly what is involved in getting my Game On! It’s a healthy competition, which is truly a health competition. Players earn daily points for:
- eating 5 small meals
- exercising 20 minutes
- sleeping 7 hours
- drinking 3 liters of water
- maintaining a new healthy habit
- dropping a not-so-healthy habit
- communicating daily with both team-mates and opposition
Points maybe deducted for a variety of reasons, including snacking outside sanctioned meals/snacks and colluding (“let’s both cheat and call it even”).
Scores are tallied, averaged per team, and at the end of four weeks … the team with the highest score wins! That’s right, not the team with the greatest weight loss, but the team with the most points! What really appeals to me about Game On! are both the team aspect (support, celebrating victories, troubleshooting), but also that the plan takes into account the whole person – the physical and mental well-being of the players.
The book is co-written by Az Ferguson and Krista Vernoff. As I mentioned above, Az is a Body-for-Life champion; he knows health and fitness. Krista is a writer and executive producer for Grey’s Anatomy (and, no, you don’t lose points if you’re not a regular viewer of the show!) Krista’s tone is funny, blunt, a bit flippant, and very encouraging … she’s like the friend who dares to tell you that, no, that dress doesn’t look good on you, but then she stays by your side as you keep trying on clothes and finally find the perfect outfit.
Here’s how she addresses one of the questions in the Exercise Q&A (note that players earn bonus points for losing 1.0% of their weight in a week; that’s 1.5 pounds for a person weighing 150 at the beginning of The Game). It’s a cut and dried answer, but not cutting:
Q. Can I get some of my points if I lost .99 percent of my weight?
A. No. Sorry. We gotta keep the rule clean and clear. But if you lost .99 percent of your weight, you rock and you know it. That’s your reward.
The Game On! Diet covers all aspects of the various point-earning categories. The chapter on Food includes a shopping list, sample recipes, and explanations of why certain foods are penalty-invoking. Exercise gives ideas on how to add 20 minutes of exercise to your day, and outlines a nicely illustrated example of a High Intensity Interval Training routine. Sleep explains the rationale behind the 7-hour rule, defines “sleep debt”, and discusses sleep strategies. Transformation talks about selecting the habit you will drop during The Game, Healthy Habits encourages you to maintain a new positive action for 28 days; it may become a routine part of your lifestyle.
Each of the 18 chapters delivers information about a serious subject with Krista’s frank wit, Az’s viewpoint as a trainer, and opinions of various outside experts (yogis, dietitians, physicians, etc.).
The plan is solid, fun, and do-able! My only quibble with the book is the title; I’m not crazy about the word diet. We have a 13-year-old daughter, and I’m very aware of the messages we send to our girls (and boys!) about body image. I’m participating in the Game On! Lifestyle Challenge, which doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, but the phrase works better for my family (hmm, maybe there’ll be an online addendum to address the vocabulary hang-ups of people like me! I’m sure Krista would address my concerns and have me laughing!)
Yes, I’m participating in The Game! We have three groups of bloggers who will begin the 4-week program on June 29, 2009. We are,
- The Ding-Dongs:
- Julie from Booking Mama
- softdrink from Fizzy Thoughts
- Amy from My Friend Amy
- Jill from Rhapsody in Books
- Ti from Book Chatter and Other Stuff
- The Twinkies:
- Beth F from Beth Fish Reads
- Jenners from Find Your Next Book Here
- Jenn from Jenn’s Bookshelf
- Denise from M. Denise C.
- Dawn from She is Too Fond of Books
- The HoHos:
- Kathy from The Brain Lair
- two of Kathy’s IRL friends who will be updating their progress on Facebook
You can follow our progress by searching Twitter for the #gameondiet hashtag. We’ve been burning up the tweet-waves as we get ready to start the competition. Already we’re encouraging each other, and learning that opinions vary as to which aspect of the Game will be most challenging.
My habits? I have to admit that I spend far too much time online, responding like Pavlov’s dogs when I hear the ding of new email; I’m staying off the computer between 6 and 8 each night — I’ll have to turn off my laptop to do it, but I’ll do it! My new healthy habit is keeping paper clutter down (which will result in lowered stress levels); I will sort/file/recycle every piece of mail and the newspapers daily.
There will be prizes for the team that wins the Game, I’ll announce those on the blog next week.
I just read Beth’s review, but I’ve been watching you guys go back-and-forth on Twitter. Sounds like a great plan – good luck! I might need to get a copy and start a game of my own.
And they’re off…..Great summary post! I’m actually looking forward to this — the community aspect is fun if nothing else.
Great job Fellow Twinkie! I’ve peed 5 times since I’ve gotten up, but I have one meal under my belt and I’m counting the hours until I can eat again. The celery and cucumbers aren’t calling me yet!! I’m going around to visit everyone’s posts to see what we all came up with — plus I’m earning points in the process! (The easiest ones I think!)
Good luck to all of you!
Go Dawn! Welcome aboard and Game On! I’ve been working on breaking the same computer habit — no blackberry or computer from the time I get home until the kids are in bed. It’s been tough, but so rewarding. I feel like I’m actually there, living my life and interacting with my family (duh). I’m glad I had something to kick me in the pants to make this very important change.
You guys have been totally inspiring on Twitter. Makes me sorry not to be joining in the Game, myself. Good luck with it!
Jessi – ideally you’ll have two teams of at least 2 people each. Grab a book, grab some buddies, and go for it. You can look at the book online (for now, don’t know if this will change after pub. on 6/30) at: http://browseinside.harpercollins.com/index.aspx?isbn13=9780061718892&pg=100
Julie – it IS fun! I’m sure we’ll slow down with our tweets after a few days, when we have the rhythm and most of our questions answered.
Jenners – yay for you! What did you do for exercise this morning? I was 2.5 miles jog/fast walk on the treadmill (yes, raining AGAIN here!)
Kathy – thank you!
BCG – yeah, sad that it took a competition for me to go offline (yes, no iPhone 6-8 either, that would be sneaky and … just so wrong!)
Ali – maybe you can connect with Jessi (above) and form a team …
Good luck! It’s fun to see everyone’s posts about this book and diet plan.
Sounds like a great plan. Good luck everyone!
Good post! Pizza for twinkies in the mail….
Yours,
A Ding Dong
Good luck Dawn – I’m routing for you!
Good luck, Dawn!
Good luck Dawn!
Hope you enjoyed the pizza. I’m sending you a cheesecake for dessert.
Love,
another Ding-Dong
Alyce and Carol – thank you!
Jill/Rhapsody – we’ll find your Achilles heel, watch out!
Michele, Avis, Dar – thanks! I feel good at the end of Day One!
softdrink – no worries! I loved cheesecake and I’ll have it on my day off
NY style with strawberries, please!
neat book! When you do a “diet” or train for an event you are much more apt to stick with it than when you do it on your own. I agree with you A.Dawn about the word “diet” in the title. I heard that word many times growing up and it definitely left an impression. I’m surprised that someone with the Body for Life background would call label it as a “diet.” Perhaps it’s a sales tactic? More copies might sell if it’s closer to the Diet section than in the Health/Wellness section of bookstores. . .
I’m like one of those drooling Pavlovian dogs, too, Dawn, and I keep swearing I’ll cut down on my computer time. I like your idea of having a set time frame when the computer stays off! I’m going to try it as well. I keep promising myself I’m only going to check email twice a day, but we all know that’s a big fat lie!
Good luck! I am definitely one who would do better with a group effort – though I am against weighing myself!
So far, so good! Nice review. Sorry I’m so late to get over here.
Nicole – I think it probably was a marketing decision (to use the word “diet” in title). The authors do address eating disorders, and even give contact info for AA; it cover a lot!
sarah – the laptop is on my desk in the kitchen, where I seem to spend 50% of my day! I’ve had to shut Outlook from 6 to 8, so I’m not tempted, but so far, so good!
Lenore – I didn’t own a scale until the day before we started Game On!, then I went out and bought one (and lots of celery
)
Beth – yeah, I’m feeling pretty good about this. holiday weekend coming, though
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Great to see how many others have tried the Game On Diet. I did it once last fall for four-weeks with two other friends…no teams and really liked it. It re-taught me to eat so many more fruits and veggies than I had been. I dropped 10# and have kept them off. Just started a new “game” today with three others, so now we have two-teams….Shooting for another drop of 10!
GAME ON!!!